The fatal shooting of a mother and her 4-year-old daughter happened in a densely-populated area between two mid-rise buildings on a warm summer night. Yet, Long Beach police have received just three phone calls from the public in their search for information about who murdered the victims on Saturday as they returned from the grocery store.

“I was a little disheartened by that,” Sgt. Robert Woods of the Long Beach Police Department said at a press conference Monday. “I thought we would just have an influx of information coming from the public but we haven’t had it yet.”

Police offered no updates in the seemingly random, close-range killings of Carina Mancera, 26, and Jennabel Anaya, 4, Saturday at about 10:20 p.m. at E. Ninth Street and Locust Avenue.

Woods said officers were in the process of reviewing surveillance footage from a nearby building, but from what he saw on the video tape so far, he said he doesn’t think it’s enough to solve the crime.

Standing a few feet from a memorial for the two victims, the homicide sergeant told reporters he was puzzled by the incident.

“With all the evidence we have right now, it is a whodunit,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for a while, and this one baffles me.”

‘Great mother’

Brightly-colored bouquets were placed delicately around a stop sign nearby, and dozens of votive candles were tucked next to stuffed animals, a children’s book and a blanket. Chunks of sidewalk chalk lay on the ground, a sort of open invitation to etch messages into the asphalt where the two victims were gunned down.

Kind words, such as “RIP you’ll never be forgotten” and “Prima, we love you and baby” had already been scrawled into the pavement.

Synthia Carano, 35, said she and Mancera grew up on the same block in a part of Long Beach a short distance from where Mancera and her family lived.

“She was a great mother, she was a great friend. I knew her since I was about 10 years old,” Carano said.

“She was just a quiet girl,” she continued. “She was respectful. She would see you and she’d say, ‘hello.’”

The husband and father, Luis Anaya, 27, who was across the street when the shooting occurred, said a man also shot at him, then fled the scene on foot.

Anaya said Sunday he did not know what the man’s motive could have been.

“I don’t know why he did it, why he came after my family,” he said. “I don’t have any problems with anybody.”

Michael Rodriguez, a neighbor who lives in an apartment complex next door with his 8-year-old daughter, said he ran outside after hearing the gunfire followed by screaming.

“It’s upsetting, because I saw them lying there in the street,” he said.

It’s hard to get that image out of his mind, he said, adding that he didn’t know the victims personally, but he had seen them around the neighborhood over the past few years.

“It could have been anybody, and I think that’s what is really scary,” he said.

Several neighbors described the area as safe and relatively quiet, just a few blocks away from the hustle and bustle of Pine Ave in downtown Long Beach.

There are two schools down the street — Renaissance High School for the Arts and International Elementary School — and a dental office on the corner. Residents say they often see people out walking their dogs or strolling by with their children when school is in session.

Jessica Aceves, 26, who lives down the street with her 10-year-old son, said she heard four shots fired Saturday night but didn’t witness the crime.

“It just happened out of nowhere,” she said. “Now I’m scared to be outside at night.”

‘A true victim’

Woods said the victims were shot at close range, though there is not enough evidence to suggest it was a targeted ambush.

And although there have been media reports of a possible getaway vehicle, he said neither Anaya nor witnesses had reported any information about a suspect vehicle to detectives.

“If we have a witness out there who saw the suspect get out of a car, I need them to contact detectives,” he said.

He also said the shooting was not gang-related.

“Zero gang overtones,” Woods said. “This is a true victim.”

Mayor Robert Garcia, who lives in the downtown area, said he feels for the family at this tragic time.

“It’s incredibly sad to see this loss of life, especially that of a young child,” he said in a phone interview Monday. “Our officers are working incredibly hard right now to get to the bottom of what happened. They are working hard to apprehend whoever did this. It is a horrific act, and the people who were involved will be brought to justice.”

Woods said police have canvassed the neighborhood hoping to talk to witnesses.

“We have as many boots on the ground on this as possible,” he said.

Anyone with information regarding the shooting to call detectives Scott Lasch and Michael Hubbard at 562-570-7244.

Anonymous tips can also be submitted at 1-800-222-8477, texting TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637) or visit lacrimestoppers.org/.

A Go Fund Me page to help the victims’ families pay for funeral services has raised over $16,000 as of this afternoon.

Andrew Edwards is part of the Southern California News Group's business team and focuses on housing stories for the Inland Empire. He's based at the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and has also worked for publications including the Long Beach Press-Telegram and The San Bernardino Sun. He graduated from UCLA in 2003 after studying political science and history.

Courtney Tompkins is a freelancer. Courtney previously covered Long Beach City Hall for the Press-Telegram and local government and education for the Pasadena Star-News and San Gabriel Valley Tribune. She is a graduate of Cal State Long Beach, where she studied journalism and international relations.